


Easily, Happily

by pyreios



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: F/M, Found Family, Gen, Highport, IPRE Days, M/M, blupjeans, davenchurch - Freeform, taagnus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-24
Updated: 2017-07-24
Packaged: 2018-12-06 07:44:53
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,453
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11596110
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pyreios/pseuds/pyreios
Summary: The first time Taako fell in love had been almost too easy, considering they were battling against the hunger, figuring out what it was, fleeing.





	Easily, Happily

The first time Taako fell in love had been almost too easy, considering they were battling against the hunger, figuring out what it was,  _ fleeing. _

He had watched Lup love with Barry slowly and long and completely and he felt happy for her. She was everything to him and her happiness set a smile on her face, eased his tension because he no longer had to worry that she was in trouble. He worried nonetheless, but it was calmer. Better. Barry was good, no matter how many times Taako would tease him, call him “Barold” just because he knew it ruffled his feathers. 

He saw Barry fumble around Lup, the way his cheeks burned when she came too close. He saw the smiles and laughter he had no control over, saw the dorky way he would push his glasses up because they never stayed on his nose the way they were supposed to. He saw the way Barry loved with almost no hesitation, completely with Lup and held his friends close, always nervous, always embarrassed, but never bothering to hide. He saw the way Barry thrived, the way he became better with himself.

He had watched as Davenport relaxed only in Merle’s company, watched the smiled he shot and the long stares that lingered. He saw Davenport dish out advice the best he could, watched the gentle smile he always seemed to have seeing Lup and Barry close, saw the way his hand lingered near Merle’s during an interesting game of chess. Watched as Lup would mutter a tease to him and he’d deny it quicker than Taako could process.

He watched the hopefulness spread across Merle’s face, the easy laugh lines and crow's feet and the gentle stroking of his beard. Saw him crack jokes and laugh, saw the flowers slowly weave their way through his hair, into his beard, saw the frown lines make their way between his eyebrows and crease, and the weariness in his eyes when he smiled. 

He watched Lucretia slowly blossom, come out of her room and out into the world more often, watched her interact with the young creature full of galaxies, watched her scribble away in her Journals and the smile tug at her lip as she tried to be annoyed when Magnus bothered her about making his name cooler when she wrote. He saw her thrive under her new family’s attention, shoulder clasps and hair ruffles, being dragged out of her comfort zone so she could live and see the world because who knew when the day would come that everything stopped resetting. 

He watched Magnus carve wood into small toys, watched him play with the baby him and Lucretia had taken to raising in their own weird way. He watched as Magnus danced one night in a village on a world they had taken to, laughing and shouting and pulling Taako in to join him, despite half-hearted protests. He saw the way Magnus’ soft brown eyes crinkled at the edges when he smiled, and felt the calloused tips of his fingers drag across his cheek. He watched Magnus’ friendliness spread across worlds, saw the smiles he put on people’s face, the comforting nature he gave and the soft whispers when he pulled Taako close.

He saw himself fall in love with each and every one of his friends in his own way for each. Saw himself assign feelings for each subconsciously, felt the way he let himself smile, let his guard down ever so slightly. 

Lup saw it the way he looked for her when they reset, and the way he teased her about Barry. He sought her out when he wanted to cook, and in rare moments he’d tell her she is his everything, and she’d smile and laugh because where would she be without him? Where would he be without her? They were Lup and Taako. They were inseparable and though her emotions always came easier, she knew Taako showed it in his own way. In the brattish nicknames he gave her, in the way he looked for her approval before anyone else’s, how he came to her when he had nowhere else to go. She always knew he loved her; she was his sister, his main priority, his everything. He’d tell her in his most vulnerable because he needed to make sure she knew, needed to make sure that she knew he would risk everything for her. She knew he loved her because they were each other’s heart. 

Barry saw it in the way he called him “Barold,” in the way he never once denied Barry was good for Lup. He saw it in the way Taako would tease him and cast levitate on his books, out of his reach until Taako was satisfied and ended the spell, ruffling Barry’s hair. He saw whenever Taako would throw content glances their way whenever him and Lup were joking together, sitting together, being affectionate together. He knew Taako loved him in a way he’d never say, brotherly and teasing because that’s how Barry fit in.

Davenport could see it when when he would sidle near and ask casually for advice, even though feelings sucked and Taako never liked receiving help. Taako would bother him, telling jokes during chess games with Merle or when he was trying to keep everyone on task, because Davenport needed to smile more, needed to know that they were trying and everyone, even him, needed a break sometimes. He knew Taako loved him  in the way he would throw a “you’re not my dad!” and a tongue poking out between teeth, and Davenport’s heart would warm because how did he even get in this position? 

Merle could see it when seeds from the new planet had been left outside the door, when Taako had inquired nonchalantly about his plants. He saw it whenever Taako affectionately called him “gramps,” when he jokes about the flowers that intertwined in Merle’s beard. When Merle was gone Taako would care for Merle’s plants. He never said anything, never told anyone, doing so when the room was empty and no one was around. But when Merle was revived and his plants were in perfect condition, he knew. He knew that Taako cared.

Lucretia took longer to read Taako. He’d joke about her journals and he’d drag her out of her room. He’d ask stupid questions that were obvious and bug the living daylights out of her, and at first she thought he was being annoying, but it brought a huge mood shift from when she first met him, and she knew. She inquired to Merle and Barry, to Lup and Magnus and Davenport, and she knew Taako showed he loved you in different ways; in abstract ways where you became family, became a constant he refused to say allowed that he needed and wanted, but it was there nonetheless. He’d teach her how to cook, and she picked up dialect from him, and she saw that he was helping her blossom; be more social. He loved her and though it was hard to see, she figured it out and wrote it in her journals.

Magnus knew in more ways than he could count. Taako’s lingering touches, slender fingers slotted with rough, way-too-big hands. Taako permanently moving to Magnus’ room, sleeping there with or without him because he craved closeness, companionship. Taako weaving flowers into Magnus’ curly hair as he braided it, singing elvish lullabies because he knew Magnus’ favorite sound was when Taako spoke elvish. The way he teased him thoroughly, pinched his arm and stuck his tongue out, kissed Magnus hard because he missed him and he hurt and he doesn't think he could ever live without him, now. He knew because Taako didn’t care he’d become attached; he didn’t want to go without Magnus anymore. Magnus knows Taako loves him when he says it, voice hushed and dazed and thick with sleep.

He was still abstract, still hesitant to let people know the way he felt. But Taako wasn’t much of a puzzle anymore. Taako was family, and Taako was loved.

The first time Taako fell in love had been in more ways than one; he had fallen in love with family, with having people who care about him as much as he cared about them. He hadn’t fallen in love in just your common thought; he had fallen in love romantically, platonically, in the way a person loves a father, a grandfather, a sibling, a lover. He had fallen in love in every way he never thought he could.

The first time Taako fell in love had been almost too easy, because for once, everyone had easily loved him back.

 

**Author's Note:**

> I've been in this shit for months and this is the first time I've written for TAZ. I'm posting this on a kind of whim?? But definitely expect more TAZ works from me in the future. I apologize that I dont have Taako's character down all too well yet. I'm probably gonna do some more character exploring so I can write him more in character!


End file.
